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It’s a quiet evening when Gale finds himself on the rooftop of the Elfsong Tavern. He finds that watching the sunset reminds him of his home in Waterdeep, when he would sit on the balcony and soak in the breeze after burying himself in his books all day. That was always Tara’s idea—gods know what he’d have done without her to drag him into proper self-care.
Tonight, however, he's not here for relaxation in itself. No, the rooftop merely grants escape from the nauseating scene just below in the party’s shared room.
Halsin, that irresistibly thick wall of muscle, had made a pass at Gale’s partner with Gale still in eyeshot. Granted, there’s only so much space in a room with twenty-one residents—animals included—but still. He couldn’t have had the decorum to pull Clarity aside to confess?
It shouldn’t bother him so much, considering that he overheard the way Clarity let Halsin down easy right before he fled, but this isn’t the first time someone has made their interest in her clear.
Within the first week or so, Clarity had admirers left and right. Lae’zel and Astarion had no qualms against announcing their intent to bed her right away. Karlach and Shadowheart were quieter, more considerate of the fact that a confession can also be embarrassing for the one receiving it, but they didn’t escape Gale’s sharp eyes as they propositioned the tiefling, flushed red from wine or adrenaline or both. Hells, even Minthara confessed an interest in the tiefling, and their moral values could only be more distant if Clarity decided to change her Oath to Devotion.
So Halsin (arguably one of the most lusted-after companions in the group following only Clarity herself) deciding to make his feelings known was the straw that broke the camel’s back.
And now here he is on the rooftop, wallowing in his romantic inferiority.
Why does she stay with him? What could she possibly see in a squishy shut-in who’s better known for his ability to insert foot to mouth than for his wizardry? If Halsin—strong, selfless, sexy Halsin—isn’t enough for her, then what is? Is it only a matter of time before she realizes she can do so much better than him?
He’s so lost in thought that he doesn’t hear the trapdoor creak, nor does he pick up on the sound of Clarity’s unsubtle footfall. So naturally he jumps when she leans all her weight against his back like a cat on a windowsill.
“Mystra’s mantle, we should put a bell around your neck!” he exclaims, his tone bordering on scolding. He’s not irritated with her, not really, and her answering chuckle says that she knows that.
“It’s not my fault you were brooding loud enough to darken the sun,” she teases gently, wrapping her arms around his shoulders as she sits on her knees behind him. He’s always been somewhat envious of her height, but the gentle pressure of her chin on his head is enough to counter such feelings.
“Astarion was all too gleeful when he told me how you left in a hurry. I take it you witnessed what happened with Halsin?”
Gale wilts, but he tries to keep it together. ‘Sad and pathetic’ is not the image he wants to portray, especially not in front of her.
“I did,” he replies eventually. “You’re racking up quite the fan club.”
Clarity sighs and sits on her backside, placing her legs on either side of his. Her chin finds his shoulder, one of her horns slightly pressing against the side of his head. The steady beat of her heart on his back is inviting enough that he sinks back against her, relishing in the warmth of her infernal arms.
“Does it bother you?” she asks, winding her tail around his waist. “You can talk to me about it.”
There’s a dull tugging sensation on his scalp, but he’s spent enough time with her to recognize that she’s biting down on a thick clump of his hair. She’d explained her reasoning for it—how she sometimes felt the urge to sink her teeth into his flesh until he bleeds, needing his blood and bones in her jaws to feel whole. Since she didn’t want to see him torn apart by Bhaal’s influence, she soothed the violent urges by biting his hair instead. It helps, she’d said.
Gale’s first instinct is to lie, to say that he’s perfectly alright with Clarity receiving confessions and propositions all higgledy-piggledy. But he doesn’t want to keep such information from her, not when he’s determined to keep her in his life forever.
“I must admit that it’s difficult to swallow.” He speaks carefully, planning his words before he says them for once. “You are a deeply fetching woman and it would be asinine not to expect anybody else to see that. However, as your partner, I don’t enjoy watching others try to…take you from me, I suppose. Especially they have so much more to offer you.”
She releases his hair from her teeth, squeezing her arms gently around his waist. “What do you mean, ‘so much more to offer me’?”
She sounds so genuinely confused that it throws Gale for a loop as well. It’s easy to forget that others can’t see the way you view yourself, that they can form their own opinions on you based on what they know, not how you see yourself.
“Well,” Gale stammers, “Karlach and Halsin are attractive blends of kindness and strength, while I need to be protected from my own hubris. Astarion is, well, beautiful—and he knows his way around words better than I know my spellbook. Let’s not pretend that I’m anywhere near as charming as he is. Lae’zel may be abrasive, but she’s confident and candid about what she wants, while I—”
Clarity presses her palm against his lips, curling her fingers gently around his cheek.
“You are positively infuriating sometimes,” she says, her voice so achingly affectionate that it sends the Netherese parasite in his ribs pounding. “Why would I be with you if I were attracted to other traits, Gale? I don’t need a lover who can carry me into the sunset, not when I can carry you. I don’t care for honeyed words and lazy smiles when I can have your flustered, convoluted ramblings. I don’t need anyone to brazenly declare that they crave my body when you look at me like I’m deserving of all that’s wonderful. Don’t you understand that everything I want is right here in my arms?”
Gale, for once, is speechless—which might be a good thing, because Clarity isn’t done.
“You are charming, you are beautiful, and you’re so, so kind. I love you. My blood yearns for yours in the most twisted ways imaginable, but I’m determined to love you like you deserve: to be treasured. I’m not letting go any time soon—you’re mine and I wouldn’t change that for anyone or anything.”
She finishes her speech by lowering her hand from his mouth and pressing her lips to the corner of it in a lingering kiss.
It’s all Gale can do to keep from weeping. If he thought the whole “I love you for the man you are, not the magic you command” conversation was hard to swallow, this is a brand-new pill entirely. Almost.
“Let’s stay up here?” he asks weakly. “Just until the sun goes down?”
Her answering chuckle is soft and warm against his skin. “Whatever my love requires.”